Eternals might be Marvel’s first film to receive a rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes, but pre-sale tickets for the Chloé Zhao superhero epic are selling like hotcakes. Analysts predict that Eternals will punch its way to $75M during its opening weekend. Fandango has also come forward to say that Eternals is now the second-best pre-seller for a tentpole film this year. These numbers put Eternals ahead of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which previously held the crown and was only outperformed by Marvel’s Black Widow.
As of today, Eternals has earned $13M which is 13% behind Black Widow. These numbers also place Eternals 25% ahead of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in terms of pre-sales. According to reports, tickets for Eternals are selling well amongst males in Hispanic, African American, and Asian communities.
Per Deadline, Fandango recently conducted a poll amongst 1,000 moviegoers who plan on seeing Eternals and discovered the following:
98% are excited to see the Marvel Cinematic Universe expanding with new characters.
97% are looking forward to seeing a different kind of Marvel Studios movie.
94% are excited to see the film’s use of real, exotic locations (instead of CGI green screens).
81% are curious to see Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao’s take on the superhero genre.
“Eternals is a haunting, soulful and spectacular epic, the kind that only Chloe Zhao can deliver and that demands to be seen on the big screen,” says Fandango Managing Editor Erik Davis. “It offers a new MCU mythology that makes it feel separate from every Marvel movie that has come before it, and it takes the brand in a refreshing new direction.”
Despite its negative score on Rotten Tomatoes, I’m certain that plenty of people will be lining up to see the latest superhero spectacle in Marvel’s Phase 4 initiative. Like Fandango’s survey has shown, MCU fans are eager to meet some new personalities within the universe, and the fact that it’s a diverse team is likely to appeal to a lot of people. I’ll definitely be checking out Marvel’s Eternals during its opening weekend, and look forward to making my own opinion about the film.